Dame Deborah James thanked her husband Sebastien Bowen, admitting he was her 'utter rock' in a touching tribute weeks before her death.
The brave 40 year old campaigner sadly passed away on Tuesday 28 June, with her family announcing the tragic news on her Instagram page.
In the weeks leading up to her passing, Deborah posted a photo of herself in a wheelchair alongside her loving city banker husband on her Instagram page in May, after announcing to fans she was in end-of-life care.
The photo shows Deborah sat in a wheelchair and smiling while her loving husband Sebastien kneeled down beside her as they posed at the RHS Garden Wisley in Woking.
As Deborah shared the photo with her 1million followers, she thanked her husband for taking her out for the first time since entering hospice care.
Deborah wrote: "Seb whisked me ( bit of a mission but worth it!) at the crack of dawn to @rhswisley before all the crowds., to say we’ll done for the book launch, and it was just perfect for a hour.
"I haven’t left the house in 10 days as have been too weak, and whilst I’m now going to snooze for most of the day (in the sun like a cat!) - I love this picture of reminding me of vibrant green life all around, despite the sadness of knowing the state of my body inside."
She then admitted: "But Seb is an utter rock for me and together we seem to be able to squeeze our hands, swallow the tears and laugh instead."
Deborah and Sebastien were married for 13 years before her tragic passing. The couple share two children together; 14-year-old Hugo and Eloise, 12.
The dame was diagnosed with stage 4 bowel cancer five years ago in 2016 at the age of 35.
Since then she had fearlessly campaigned to raise awareness for her condition and raised £6.8 million for Cancer Research.
In the weeks leading up to Deborah's diagnosis, the former teacher and her husband Sebastien rekindled their marriage – after the banker moved out in 2015 and they began an initially 'acrimonious' divorce.
The pair then agreed to go for counselling, not to reconcile but to be on better terms for their children and the pair began having drinks, then dinner, after the sessions.
In November 2016, the pair got back together shortly before Deborah received her shock news.
She previously told the Daily Mail: "One of the good things about cancer is it makes you reassess your relationship. It's crunch time. You think: "Do I really want to be with this person?" And if you don't, then it's 'Bye!' as life really is short.
"But cancer can also make you realise how special your connection is, and that's where we are: in a good place."
On Tuesday 28 June Deborah's family announced the sad news of her passing in an Instagram post.
As they shared a beautiful photo of Deborah smiling while wearing a white dress, the family wrote: "We are deeply saddened to announce the death of Dame Deborah James; the most amazing wife, daughter, sister, mummy. Deborah passed away peacefully today, surrounded by her family."
